Doha ready to provide security for OPCW inspectors in Syria

Doha is ready to provide support in security of inspectors from the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in Syria, Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said during a news conference on Saturday.

“As for a possible independent investigation in the Syrian districts, which are controlled either by the government or the opposition, I believe, here should play the role the countries, which guarantee behavior of both sides,” the minister said.
“Having this investigation is very important to us,” the Qatari foreign minister said. “But even of bigger importance is what we are going to do if results of the investigation make it impossible to punish the involved.”

“We should make it so the involved are punished, all countries should speak in favor of this investigation,” the Qatari foreign minister said. “If we do not punish the involved, it inevitably will encourage them for even more actions of the kind. This must be avoided.”

However, Washington concluded that Damascus had used chemical weapons. As a result, the US military fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles on the military aerodrome in the province of Homs, from which, as Washington believed, a chemical attack had allegedly started. The missile strike killed 10 people.